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Muxes In Zapotec Culture

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When an academic work establishes the use of the cultural analysis approach, we obtain as a result that the concept of "cultural interactions" entails the idea of negotiation, tensions and competing forces that pursue the establishment of a common pattern of exchanges in a specific society. At the same time, this common pattern of exchanges that is in constant tension, which is dynamic, shapes the identity of individuals, and from that identity they react, make decisions and construct their vision of the world. But how many tensions can an individual tolerate? What impact do these tensions have on the construction of 'social normality '? This essay will explore these issues through the film Carmín Tropical by Rigoberto Perezcano, a film made …show more content…

Those are two important characteristics of Juchitan live, where a greater representativeness of women in the public domain and greater relevance in decision making within the household are promoted. According to authors such as Miano Borrusso (1999), Taylor (2006) and Subero (2013), this logic is important to understand why the gender identity of the muxes is based more on group necessities than in individual needs.

But how can we understand the emergence of muxes in Zapotec culture? How and who are they? The muxes are “…also indigenous persons who speak Zapotec, lead very public lives 24/7, live within a society and culture which, like the Zuni man-woman, recognizes the existence of an indigenous third sex/gender category that is neither male nor female but muxe. While most muxes cross-dress and are called vestidas, some only dress for the fiestas, yet there is no necessary relationship between being muxe and cross-dressing” (Mirandé, 2016: …show more content…

To what extent is the identity of the muxe constructed and to what extent is it a chosen genre? With the above as a background, we could say that be a muxe is not a free choice in all cases, but a cultural imposition with practical social purposes that specifically benefit parents; situation that collides with the vision inside the family and the community where being muxe is seen as an immutable, natural and miraculous characteristic (Mirandé, 2016: 394). To put an example, I mentioned that in Juchitán a traditional festivity had place with the name of "velas", with religious and communitarian purposes. The muxes have a vela for honored themselves, it is called "The Intrépida Vela” and it is composed by a three-day celebration held on the third weekend of November. As Mirandé can

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